Use Rich Edit Project and Form Templates

• Aug 11, 2026
• 5 minutes to read

The VCL Template Kit ships with automatically installed Project and Form templates for the ExpressRichEditControl Suite. These templates are designed to reduce time spent on repetitive project and form setups, as well as improve onboarding for new VCL developers and boost productivity in experienced teams.

In this topic…

• Project Template
  • Result: Generated Project
    • Sample Document & Supported Document Formats
    • UI Elements & End-User Functionality
    • Run & Test the App
• Form Template
  • Result: Generated Form
    • Use the Generated Form
• Application Builder Options
  • Step 1 — Select Navigation Type
  • Step 2 — Add Views to the Application
  • Result: Generated Project

Project Template

The Word Processing Application template creates a single-form application that contains the TdxRichEditControl component with a Ribbon UI and built-in print functionality (using the TdxComponentPrinter component).

To run the Application/Project Wizard, select the following item in the RAD Studio IDE menu:

File → New → DevExpress VCL v26.1 Application/Project - Delphi

Select Word Processing Application in the Office-Inspired Controls category and click Create Project.

Result: Generated Project

The TdxRichEditControl component occupies the main form area (the component’s Align property is set to alClient). The generated form is derived from the TdxForm class and encapsulates all best app building practices for high-DPI multi-monitor environments.

Sample Document & Supported Document Formats

The TdxRichEditControl component is empty at design time. The generated project includes the main form’s OnCreate event handler that loads a sample document (Word1.rtf) located within the nested Data project folder.

Note

The generated application supports only predefined document formats – rich text (RTF) and plain text (TXT) to avoid excessive dependencies.

To enable support for additional document formats (DOCX, HTML, DOC), add all required dependencies manually as demonstrated in the following section: Enable Support for Individual Document Formats.

UI Elements & End-User Functionality

In addition to the TdxRichEditControl positioned using the TdxLayoutControl component, the main application form includes a Ribbon UI with an embedded TdxOfficeSearchBox editor and the following Ribbon tabs from left to right:

File

File management and print-related commands.

Home

General-purpose text editing commands.

Insert

Content insert commands for page breaks, tables, images, text boxes, headers/footers, etc.

Page Layout

Page layout management commands (margins, orientation, size, columns/sections, etc.).

References

Commands related to table of contents management.

Mail Merge

Placeholder field management and preview commands.

Review

Document protection and spellchecker-related commands.

View

Document display options (allow users to switch between available Views, zoom the document in or out, etc.).

Header & Footer Design

Dedicated commands for header and footer content management.

Table Layout | Table Design

Table content management commands.

Format

Floating image and text box customization commands.

Tip

Refer to the following topic for a complete list of end-user commands shipped with the TdxRichEditControl component:

Supported Commands List

Run & Test the App

Build and run the generated project. Use Ribbon UI elements to execute corresponding end-user commands.

Form Template

The Word Processing Form template allows you to add a configured DevExpress form with a TdxRichEditControl component to an existing application.

To run the Form/User Control Wizard, select the following item in the RAD Studio IDE menu:

File → New → DevExpress VCL v26.1 Form/User Control - Delphi

Select Word Processing Form in the Office-Inspired Controls category and click Create Form.

Result: Generated Form

The template creates a child form derived from the TdxRibbonForm class. The created form includes the same UI elements and has the same layout as the main form created by the Word Processing Application template.

Use the Generated Form

The form template does not automatically associate the generated form with existing app functionality. You need to manually display the form in code. For example:

Delphi

uses
  uChildForm;  // Adds the generated form's unit explicitly

procedure TMainForm1.cxRichEditDisplayButton1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ChildForm.Show;  // Displays the generated form
end;

Application Builder Options

Application Builder is a universal application template designed to combine multiple business scenarios, UI layouts, and navigation options. You can add one or multiple views with pre-configured DevExpress UI controls based on project requirements.

The Application Builder template wizard contains two steps:

Step 1 — Select Navigation Type

This step allows you to select a navigation UI type (sidebar and/or tabbed MDI layout) designed to switch between multiple Views on the same application form:

Scroll the Application Builder pane down to select required Views (Step 2).

Step 2 — Add Views to the Application

Step 2 lists multiple options that allow you to add one or multiple Views dedicated to corresponding UI controls.

All available options are grouped into the following categories: All, Grid, TreeList, Chart, Reporting & Data Analysis, Scheduler, Word, Excel, and PDF. Select Word to display the corresponding View.

You can click individual Views to select or deselect them. Select all required Views and click Create Project to add them to the generated project.

Result: Generated Project

The generated project includes a TdxNavBar control as a sidebar and displays selected Views as frames on the same application form. Each View includes a Ribbon UI.

Individual application Views use the same sample data and layouts as corresponding standalone project templates.